scholarly journals Inter-generational transmission in a minority language setting: Stop consonant production by Bangladeshi heritage children and adults

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 255-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Mayr ◽  
Aysha Siddika

Aims and objectives: The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of speech development across successive generations of heritage language users, examining how cross-linguistic, developmental and socio-cultural factors affect stop consonant production. Design: To this end, we recorded Sylheti and English stop productions of two sets of Bangladeshi heritage families: (1) first-generation adult migrants from Bangladesh and their (second-generation) UK-born children, and (2) second-generation UK-born adult heritage language users and their (third-generation) UK-born children. Data and analysis: The data were analysed auditorily, using whole-word transcription, and acoustically, examining voice onset time. Comparisons were then made in both languages across the four groups of participants, and cross-linguistically. Findings: The results revealed non-native productions of English stops by the first-generation migrants but largely target-like patterns by the remaining sets of participants. The Sylheti stops exhibited incremental changes across successive generations of speakers, with the third-generation children’s productions showing the greatest influence from English. Originality: This is one of few studies to examine both the host and heritage language in an ethnic minority setting, and the first to demonstrate substantial differences in heritage language accent between age-matched second- and third-generation children. The study shows that current theories of bilingual speech learning do not go far enough in explaining how speech develops in heritage language settings. Implications: These findings have important implications for the maintenance, transmission and long-term survival of heritage languages, and show that investigations need to go beyond second-generation speakers, in particular in communities that do not see a steady influx of new migrants.

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Lisa Kornder ◽  
Ineke Mennen

The purpose of this investigation was to trace first (L1) and second language (L2) segmental speech development in the Austrian German–English late bilingual Arnold Schwarzenegger over a period of 40 years, which makes it the first study to examine a bilingual’s speech development over several decades in both their languages. To this end, acoustic measurements of voice onset time (VOT) durations of word-initial plosives (Study 1) and formant frequencies of the first and second formant of Austrian German and English monophthongs (Study 2) were conducted using speech samples collected from broadcast interviews. The results of Study 1 showed a merging of Schwarzenegger’s German and English voiceless plosives in his late productions as manifested in a significant lengthening of VOT duration in his German plosives, and a shortening of VOT duration in his English plosives, closer to L1 production norms. Similar findings were evidenced in Study 2, revealing that some of Schwarzenegger’s L1 and L2 vowel categories had moved closer together in the course of L2 immersion. These findings suggest that both a bilingual’s first and second language accent is likely to develop and reorganize over time due to dynamic interactions between the first and second language system.


2021 ◽  
pp. 026765832110089
Author(s):  
Daniel J Olson

Featural approaches to second language phonetic acquisition posit that the development of new phonetic norms relies on sub-phonemic features, expressed through a constellation of articulatory gestures and their corresponding acoustic cues, which may be shared across multiple phonemes. Within featural approaches, largely supported by research in speech perception, debate remains as to the fundamental scope or ‘size’ of featural units. The current study examines potential featural relationships between voiceless and voiced stop consonants, as expressed through the voice onset time cue. Native English-speaking learners of Spanish received targeted training on Spanish voiceless stop consonant production through a visual feedback paradigm. Analysis focused on the change in voice onset time, for both voiceless (i.e. trained) and voiced (i.e. non-trained) phonemes, across the pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest. The results demonstrated a significant improvement (i.e. reduction) in voice onset time for voiceless stops, which were subject to the training paradigm. In contrast, there was no significant change in the non-trained voiced stop consonants. These results suggest a limited featural relationship, with independent voice onset time (VOT) cues for voiceless and voices phonemes. Possible underlying mechanisms that limit feature generalization in second language (L2) phonetic production, including gestural considerations and acoustic similarity, are discussed.


Author(s):  
Miriam Geiss ◽  
Sonja Gumbsheimer ◽  
Anika Lloyd-Smith ◽  
Svenja Schmid ◽  
Tanja Kupisch

Abstract This study brings together two previously largely independent fields of multilingual language acquisition: heritage language and third language (L3) acquisition. We investigate the production of fortis and lenis stops in semi-naturalistic speech in the three languages of 20 heritage speakers (HSs) of Italian with German as a majority language and English as L3. The study aims to identify the extent to which the HSs produce distinct values across all three languages, or whether crosslinguistic influence (CLI) occurs. To this end, we compare the HSs’ voice onset time (VOT) values with those of L2 English speakers from Italy and Germany. The language triad exhibits overlapping and distinct VOT realizations, making VOT a potentially vulnerable category. Results indicate CLI from German into Italian, although a systemic difference is maintained. When speaking English, the HSs show an advantage over the Italian L2 control group, with less prevoicing and longer fortis stops, indicating a specific bilingual advantage.


1999 ◽  
Vol 82 (5) ◽  
pp. 2346-2357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitchell Steinschneider ◽  
Igor O. Volkov ◽  
M. Daniel Noh ◽  
P. Charles Garell ◽  
Matthew A. Howard

Voice onset time (VOT) is an important parameter of speech that denotes the time interval between consonant onset and the onset of low-frequency periodicity generated by rhythmic vocal cord vibration. Voiced stop consonants (/b/, /g/, and /d/) in syllable initial position are characterized by short VOTs, whereas unvoiced stop consonants (/p/, /k/, and t/) contain prolonged VOTs. As the VOT is increased in incremental steps, perception rapidly changes from a voiced stop consonant to an unvoiced consonant at an interval of 20–40 ms. This abrupt change in consonant identification is an example of categorical speech perception and is a central feature of phonetic discrimination. This study tested the hypothesis that VOT is represented within auditory cortex by transient responses time-locked to consonant and voicing onset. Auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) elicited by stop consonant-vowel (CV) syllables were recorded directly from Heschl's gyrus, the planum temporale, and the superior temporal gyrus in three patients undergoing evaluation for surgical remediation of medically intractable epilepsy. Voiced CV syllables elicited a triphasic sequence of field potentials within Heschl's gyrus. AEPs evoked by unvoiced CV syllables contained additional response components time-locked to voicing onset. Syllables with a VOT of 40, 60, or 80 ms evoked components time-locked to consonant release and voicing onset. In contrast, the syllable with a VOT of 20 ms evoked a markedly diminished response to voicing onset and elicited an AEP very similar in morphology to that evoked by the syllable with a 0-ms VOT. Similar response features were observed in the AEPs evoked by click trains. In this case, there was a marked decrease in amplitude of the transient response to the second click in trains with interpulse intervals of 20–25 ms. Speech-evoked AEPs recorded from the posterior superior temporal gyrus lateral to Heschl's gyrus displayed comparable response features, whereas field potentials recorded from three locations in the planum temporale did not contain components time-locked to voicing onset. This study demonstrates that VOT at least partially is represented in primary and specific secondary auditory cortical fields by synchronized activity time-locked to consonant release and voicing onset. Furthermore, AEPs exhibit features that may facilitate categorical perception of stop consonants, and these response patterns appear to be based on temporal processing limitations within auditory cortex. Demonstrations of similar speech-evoked response patterns in animals support a role for these experimental models in clarifying selected features of speech encoding.


1965 ◽  
Vol 97 (12) ◽  
pp. 1303-1318 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. J. Herbert

AbstractIn Nova Scotia one leaf cluster with an adjoining 1 inch of twig taken from the inside of each of 10 apple trees replicated four times is an adequate sample unit to measure the density of the brown mite.The brown mite has one generation with a partial second in some orchards and one with a partial second and partial third in others. The first generation adults in the bivoltine and trivoltine populations lay summer eggs on the leaves and twigs, and diapause eggs on tin twigs. The second generation adults in the bivoltine populations lay only diapause eggs; in the trivoltine populations they lay both summer and diapause eggs. The adults of the third generation lay only diapause eggs.The brown mite is found on both the leaves and woody parts of the tree. In orchards with bivoltine populations the proportion of mites on leaves reached a peak of 80% by mid-July, but thereafter gradually decreased to 10% by the end of August. However, in orchards with trivoltine populations the proportion of mites on leaves reached a peak of 80 to 90% by mid-July, remained constant until mid-August, and thereafter decreased to approximately 40% by the end of August.The number of diapause eggs laid by adults of each generation in both the bivoltine and trivoltine populations varies widely. The eggs are deposited on the trunk as well as on the branches, with the heaviest deposition in the central area of the tree. The diapause eggs laid by adults of the first generation are the last to hatch and those laid by the third generation are the first to hatch the following spring.The factors responsible for the differences in the number of generations and in the number of diapause eggs laid are unknown.


2019 ◽  
pp. 47-64
Author(s):  
Karl Raitz

Early-nineteenth-century farmers and millers were often craft distillers, mashing and fermenting grain meal in wooden barrels before distilling the liquid in small copper pot stills. Waterwheels powered the first-generation creek-side mills and distilleries. Wood fueled early steam engines; the use of coal required access to better transportation. Second-generation distilleries, operating from the 1830s to the 1880s, used traditional pot stills,although some adopted new column stills, perfected in Scotland, when they began to mechanize. Old still buildings were often modified to accommodate new machinery. Distillers stored whiskey-filled wooden barrels in stack warehouses to age. Industrialization required a larger labor force. By 1880, businesses in Louisville and other river cities were producing steam engines, boilers, and related equipment. Third-generation distilleries operated from the 1880s to 1920; their high-capacity output required more grain and fuel, mandating locations near railroad tracks or navigable rivers. Complementary industries such as cooperages, metal fabricators, slaughterhouses, and tanneries were attracted to urban, rail-side distilleries.


2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
pp. 851-887 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bianca E. Bersani ◽  
Adam W. Pittman

Objective:This study reassesses the generational disparity in immigrant offending. Patterns and predictors of offending are compared using traditional peer-based models and an alternative within-family (parent–child dyad) model.Method:The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1979; NLSY79) and NLSY-Child and Young Adult (NLSY_CYA) data are merged to create an intergenerational data set to compare generational disparities in immigrant offending across peers and within families. Differences in self-reported offending (prevalence and variety) by immigrant generation are assessed using a combination of descriptive analyses (χ2and analysis of variance) and regression models.Results:While NLSY_CYA children generally are at a greater risk of offending compared with the NLSY79 mothers, the difference in offending is greatest between first-generation mom and second-generation child dyads. Disparities in offending are driven in large part by exceedingly low levels of offending among first-generation immigrants.Conclusion:Although the factors driving an increase in offending between parent–child generations are not unique to immigrants, they are amplified in immigrant families. Whereas the second generation is remarkably similar to their U.S.-born counterparts in terms of their involvement in crime, suggesting a high degree of swift integration, the greater involvement in crime among the children of immigrants compared to their foreign-born mothers suggests a decline in well-being across successive generations.


1996 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Peters ◽  
Dennis Smith ◽  
Stanley Lugowski

There have been three generations of silicone-gel breast implants. First generation implants (thick wall – thick gel with Dacron patches) were made from 1963 to 1972. Second generation implants (thin wall-thin gel) were made from 1972 until the mid 1980s. The introduction of third generation implants (stronger wall, low-bleed) was geographically dependent. In Canada, Dow Corning Silastic II implants were introduced in 1986, and Surgitek SCL implants were introduced in 1988. In the present study, a total of 352 silicone-gel breast implants were removed from 239 patients between 1981 and 1995. Their failure properties were dependent upon their generation (year of manufacture) and, for second generation implants, their duration in situ. Of the 352 implants, 20 were first generation, and all were fully intact. Twenty-eight were third generation implants, and 27 were fully intact. Failure properties of the 302 second generation implants were dependent upon their duration of implantation. A survival curve indicated that these implants began to fail (by leaking or rupturing) after four years in situ. By six years, 40% had failed. After 12 years, 95% had failed. Of the 171 second generation implants removed between 1991 and 1995, 77% had failed. The failure properties were similar for the three main manufacturers: Dow Corning, Heyer-Schulte and Surgitek. The failure rate for second generation implants is much higher than was previously believed. This is particularly significant in view of the current difficulty in diagnosing implant failure.


2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
SUE ANN S. LEE ◽  
GREGORY K. IVERSON

The purpose of this study was to conduct an acoustic examination of the obstruent stops produced by Korean–English bilingual children in connection with the question of whether bilinguals establish distinct categories of speech sounds across languages. Stop productions were obtained from ninety children in two age ranges, five and ten years: thirty Korean–English bilinguals, thirty monolingual Koreans and thirty monolingual English speakers. Voice-Onset-Time (VOT) lag at word-initial stop and fundamental frequency (f0) in the following vowel (hereafter vowel-onset f0) were measured. The bilingual children showed different patterns of VOT in comparison to both English and Korean monolinguals, with longer VOT in their production of Korean stop consonants and shorter VOT for English. Moreover, the ten-year-old bilinguals distinguished all stop categories using both VOT and vowel-onset f0,whereas the five-year-olds tended to make stop distinctions based on VOT but not vowel-onset f0. The results of this study suggest that bilingual children at around five years of age do not yet have fully separate stop systems, and that the systems continue to evolve during the developmental period.


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